Knight v. Coudersport Borough

Citations

• 246 Pa. 284
• 92 A. 299
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 509

Syllabus

<p>Boroughs — Increase of indebtedness — Special election — Returns —Count by court — Printing of ballots — Thickness of paper — Printing showing through ballot — Act of June 10/1898, P. L. k19— Statutes — Construction.</p> <p>1. The law does not require returns of a special election for the purpose of increasing the indebtedness of a borough to be counted by the Court of Common Pleas.</p> <p>2. If a statute declares a specified irregularity to be fatal to the legality of an election the court will follow that command, irrespective of their views of the importance of the requirement, but in the absence of such declaration the judiciary endeavor -to discern whether the deviation from the prescribed forms of law had or had not so vital an influence on the proceedings as probably prevented a full and free expression of the popular will. If it had, the irregularity is held to vitiate the entire election, otherwise it is considered immaterial.</p> <p>3. Under the Act of June 10,1893, P. L. 419; anyone possessing the right to participate or having an interest in the result of an election about to be held, is entitled to maké a proper examination, in the presence of the county commissioners, of the sample or official ballots.</p> <p>4. When a ballot is not lacking in any matter essential to a free expression in statutory form of the will of the voter, in the absence of fraud, the remedy for any defect in the ballot is under the Act of June 10, 1893, P. L. 419, which provides, after requiring that all ballots used shall be printed on white paper of sufficient thickness to prevent the printed matter from showing through, that “When it is shown by affidavits that mistakes or omissions have occurred in the publication of names or description of candidates, or in the printing of the ballots, the Court of Common Pleas......may upon application of any qualified elector ......require the county commissioners to correct the mistake.”</p> <p>.5. In a proceeding in equity to set asid